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Fund set up for family displaced by fire

A family displaced last week by a apartment fire has run out of options for housing.

Ricky and Donna Vezakis and their 16-year-old twin children were forced to evacuate their two-bedroom Clifton apartment in the 400 block of Tracy Drive early Thursday morning. The neighboring apartment, which was adjoined to the Vezakis’ home, also was destroyed.

The American Red Cross provided the family, which also has a fifth member who wasn’t at home at the time of the fire, with three nights at a hotel and money for food and clothes. The money was helpful, said Angelia Carns, daughter of Ricky Vezakis. On Saturday, the family stayed in a hotel for the final night.

Carns said her father, stepmother and siblings will stay with her family of six for the time being.

Ideally, the family of five will eventually find their own housing, she added.

A fund to help the family get back on its feet has been established at U.S. Bank under the name “Vezakis Fire Fund.”

“They need to get into a place,” Carns said, speaking on behalf of her family members, who weren’t injured in Thursday’s fire but remain shaken up. “They aren’t worried about furniture or anything like that.”